COMMENTARY NOTES

DRAMATIS PERSONAE This list of characters is articulated according to the three stage-buildings employed in the play (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Ucalegon’s house, Nonaria’s brothel) and the forum or marketplace. This is of course Smithfield Market. Characters pass through the Market when they move from one stage “house” to another. A special feature of the Market is some kind of dry ditch or channel mentioned at 620 and 1853; this presumably corresponds to some actual feature of the Market in Johnson’s time with which his audience was familiar. A tavern (in which Algidius and Pythiolus are staying, and to which Ipswichus is invited for a drink) is occasionally mentioned in the text, but is not visible to the audience.
A concrete idea of what Johnson had in mind can be gained from this 1837 representation of Smithfield Market, showing the Hospital at the back right of the picture (compare the modern photograph of the Hospital’s main entrance on the title page of this edition):

The names of some of these characters are significant: Ipswichus and Lynna have been explained in the Introduction. Ucalegon is the name of a Trojan in the Aeneid whose house is burnt down (II.311f.). Archiater is simply Greek for “chief physician.” Urinulus of course takes his name from the practice of contemporary physicians of inspecting urine. Bubonius takes his name from the characteristic symptom of the Plague. Magneticus’ name is explained in the text and seems to have no medical connotations, although magneticism had been an object of interest to Englishmen since the publication of William Gilbert’s De Magnete in 1600.
5 What Johnson probably means by Valetudinarian “correcting morals” is that several of its characters (Ipswichus the hypocrite, Pythiolus the wastrel, Nonaria the bawd, and Molossus the drunkard) hold up a mirror to various common human vices and therefore serve as negative examples for the spectator. The play therefore performs the morally instructive function described by Sir Philip Sidney in his Defense of Poesie (a particularly clear example of this is the portrayal of Ipswichus’ brutish drunkenness in IV.viii, which, while humorous, is also meant to serve a morally improving end).
I.i Scene: before Ucalegon’s house.
15 Cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 77, CAL. Quid ita? PS. Genus nostrum semper siccoculum fuit.
18 For fish getting stuck in elm-trees as the result of a huge flood, see Horace, Odes I.ii.9 and Ovid, Metamorphoses I.296.
22 The exclamation ohime, very frequent in these academic comedies, comes from It. ahime.
23 Deucalion was the Greek mythological flood-survivor.
42 For the derogatory morologus cf. Plautus, Persa 49 and Pseudolus 1264.
49 For the idiom cf. Plautus Trinummus 787, quamquam hoc me aetatis sycophantari pudet.
52 For me specta modo cf. Plautus, Asinaria 145.
54 In many Cambridge comedies sound effects are built into the words of the text (e. g. “tiff toff” for hitting, “tick tock” for knocking at a door).
60 Although from his biased viewpoint Pythiolus regards his father as a silicernium (265) or hard-hearted old man, Minulus’ alarming assessment of Algidius’ character scarcely seems borne out by his comportment in the play.
83 The Myrmidons and Dolopians were Achilles’ Thessalian followers.
I.ii After Minulus and Bubulus depart, Perilupus appears before the house. As was the custom in academic drama of the time, the five Acts are subdivided into numbered scenes. Each of these, prefaced by a list of speaking parts in it, is precipitated either by the entrance of new characters or when the stage is momentarily cleared. As such, these scene-divisions often serve as a rather imperfect means of indicating entrances and exits, and no discontinuity of time or place is necessarily implied.
102 The magnet used to be called the lapis Herculeus.
106 For doctis dolis cf. Plautus, Bacchides 1095, Miles Gloriosus 248, Pseudolus 485, etc.
118 Ct. antiquae artes tuae at Plautus, Trinummus 72.
119 For oculate manus cf. Plautus, Asinaria 202.
129 Cf. i fausto pede at Horace, Epistulae II.ii.37.
134 Cf. Plautus, Rudens 1293, suo mihi hic sermone arrexit aures.
136 Cf. Plautus, Asinaria 546, nostris sycophantiis, dolis astutiisque.
149 For dii tibi quod agis vortant bene cf. Terence, Hecyra 197 and Phormio 552.
154 Archiater could make a mute as eloquent as Quintus Fabius Labeo (praised for his eloquence at Cicero, Brutus lxxxi).
160 For experiundo scies cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 331.
165 Cf. ornatus virtutibus at Terence, Adelphoe 176 and Captivi 997.
172 Fama is called mendax at Propertius IV.ii.19.
181 Consignment to a mill to do gruelling hard labor is a harsh punishment with which uppity slaves are routinely threatened in Roman comedy.
I.iv Cordelia and Ucalegon come out of the house. Although this is never explicitly stated in the text, we are to assume that Cordelia has received some injury when the house caught fire, which is why Ucalegon is escorting her across the marketplace to the hospital.
193 St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London was founded by Rahere, a favorite courtier of King Henry I in 1123, and re-founded by Henry VIII in 1546.
201 Cf. Terence, Hecyra 701, omnibu’ modis miser sum.
215 As he emerges from concealment and goes to meet Ucalegon and Cordelia, in dumb show Magneticus is shown to be doctoring his leg to make it appear that it has been burned in the recent fire.
234 For senem aridem cf. Plautus, Aulularia 297.
236 White hair is compared to snow at (e. g.) Horace, Odes IV.xiii.121.
255 Cf. Plautus, Aulularia 49, testudineum istum tibi ego grandibo gradum.
259 For the reproach flagitium hominis cf. Plautus, Asinaria 473, Casina 552, Menaechmi 489 and 709. For malitiam innatam cf. Poenulus 300.
268 Cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 688, aurichalco contra non carum fuit.
I.v As Cordelia and Ucalegon cross the marketplace to the hospital, they are observed by Pythiolus and Ipswichus.
265 The word silicernium (meaning a hard-hearted old man, not what we would call a “skinflint”) comes from Terence, Adelphoe 587.
273 As the stage direction shows, Johnson appropriates the Roman word locula (which originally meant money-boxes) to designate pockets.
281 The allusion is to Geta in Terence’s Phormio, who serves as a tutor to Antipho and Phaedria while their fathers are abroad.
291 For verbo expedi cf. Terence, Phormio 197.
318 Dryasdust Scholastic Aristotelianism persisted in the Renaissance as standard fare in the university curriculum, and at least some students evidently hated it: cf. the way such Aristotelian is personified by the loathsome Dromodotus in Edward Forsett’s 1581 Cambridge comedy Pedantius.
334 Being made a “long letter” is having your neck stretched by hanging: cf. Plautus, Aulularia 78, ex me ut unam faciam litteram longam, meum laqueo collum quando obstrinxero.
343 The verb pergraecare is found at Plautus, Bacchides 813, Mostellaria 22, 64, 960, Poenulus 603 and Truculentus 87.
353ff. This technique of antiphonal flyting is found in academic drama at least as far back as Act I of William Gager’s Meleager (printed 1592).
I.6 After Ipswichus’ exit (unmarked in the text), Algidius enters the marketplace, attended by his servant Minulus.
372 In Book II of the Metamorphoses Ovid describes how Erymanthus’ daughter Callisto was transformed into the constellation Ursa Major.
386 For lumbifragium hinc auferes cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 454.
395 Cf. Plautus, Aulularia 64, quae in occipitio quoque habet oculos pessima.
419 For facio te ferventem flagris cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 1030.
427 Johnson got the word riscus from Terence, Eunuchus 754.
436 For the idiom onerare laetitia cf. Plautus, Captivi 827.
454 The verb baiulo comes from Plautus, Asinaria 660.
445 Cf. Plautus, Epidicus 286, Sapit hic pleno pectore.
I.vii After the previous set of characters leave the marketplace, Magneticus enters and is soon joined by Molossus.
471 What exactly is Molossus? A beadle is normally a parish constable, but in view of the play’s setting is he some sort of petty official charged with maintaining order in Smithfield Market?
474 For nostri gnarus tergi (familiar with my back for having beaten it already) cf. Plautus, Asinaria 551.
478 Magneticus and Perilupus do not exchange costumes until the beginning of Act II.
479 Gravis tellus prodit looks like a literary quotation. If so, I cannot identify the source.
481 Cf. plateas perreptavi at Plautus, Amphitruo 1011.
484 Oleum et operam perdere appears to have been a proverbial Roman phrase: cf. Plautus, Poenulus 332 and Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares VIII.i.3.
491 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 728, Syrus mihi tergo poenas pendet.
498 A near-quote of Juvenal vi.165, rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cycno. (In many academic comedies, low social status does not keep characters from quoting the Classics just as much as their betters).
509 In Aristophanic comedy “go to the crows” is the stock equivalent of “go to Hell.”
512 The Heidelberg Tun was a barrel of enormous capacity displayed to tourists as a wonder (the current one preserved in Heidelberg Castle, made in 1751, has a diameter of 8.5 meters).
515 When Magneticus called him this, he was quoting Ovid, Ars Amatoria II.24.
523 Cf. osculari gestio at Plautus, Casina 471.
528 In their attempt to invade Olympus, the Giants had piled Mt. Pelio atop Mt. Ossa. An angry Jupiter repelled their assault and punished them by burying them under mountains.
532 For this appeal to populares for aid, cf. Trachalio’s cry at Plautus, Rudens 615ff.
533 The legend is that during his crossing of the Alps Hannibal employed vinegar to dissolved the boulders in his way (cf. e. g., Juvenal x.152).
540 Mt. Taurus is the mountain in the Causasus to which Jupiter had Prometheus bound for his transgressions. Presumably the idea is that an angry Jupiter had cast so many thunderbolts at Prometheus that he knocked over the mountain, but I do not recall having seen this in any Classical author or mythological account.
547 Lydia is the love-interest in Edward Forsett’s 1581 Cambridge comedy Pedantius (a play likely to have been known by Johnson because it had been printed).
551 Thais was a celebrated courtesan of antiquity.
555 The Greek cities in Sicily, such as Syracuse, were opulent and luxurious, but “Syracusan banquets” does not appear to have been an actual Roman proverb.
II.i All the scenes of this act are set in the marketplace.
553 For this pleonastic idiom cf. Plautus, Aulularia 592, Captivi 334, etc.
II.ii Ucalegon enters from the hospital, having left Cordelia there to have her wound tended. At his entrance, Perilupus hides himself, or at least stands on the other side of the stage where (by a traditional scenic convention of Roman drama) his father cannot see him. After Perilupus reveals himself, the angry reception he is given by Ucalegon is of course because the latter imagines he is Magneticus.
567 For dolis deludo cf. Terence, Andria 583.
587 Cf. Plautus, Aulularia 459, abi in malum cruciatum.
590 For male conciliate (mss. consiliate may or may not be Johnson’s own mistake), cf. Terence, Eunuchus 669.
592 For patri subolet cf. Terence, Phormio 474.
596 Cf. ib. 638f., tria non commutabitis / verba hodie inter vos.
611 Cf. Plautus, Poenulus 577, basilice exornatus incedit (for basilice cf. also Epidicus 56, Persa 29, 462, and 806).
616 Maecenas was the generous patron of the arts under Augustus. Magneticus is quoting Horace, Odes I.i.1, Maecenas atavis edite regibus.
610 For the idiom conventum cupio cf. Plautus, Curculio 304.
625 Cf. Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 898, Bene opportuneque obviam es, Palaestrio.
626 Cf. Plautus, Menaechmi 374, quae hominem ignotum compellet me tam familiariter.
667 The verb subsentio is found at Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 471.
668 For non est quod metuas cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 1066.
673 For evomo used in this way, cf. Terence, Adelphoe 312 and 510.
677 The Sibyl at Cumae was supposed to record her prophecies on leaves.
678 Cf. quae mihi animum exaugeant at Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 232.
680 Cf. Terence, Andria 522, perge facere ita ut facis, et id spero adiuturos deos.
681 For faciam lubens cf. Plautus, Casina 607, Trinummus 341, and Phormio 565.
690 For the idiom tango bolo cf. Plautus, Truculentus 844.
691 Cf. nescis inescare homines at Terence, Adelphoe 220.
725 Doubtless Johnson was thinking of the rather lyrical description of this river in Cilicia at Q. Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni III.iv.
739 Cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 603, Quisquis es, compendium ego te facere pultandi volo.
763 The noun palmarium is found at Terence, Eunuchus 930.|
765 Barsine was a mistress of Alexander mentioned by Quintus Curtius VI.xi.4 and xiii.3.
768 Alexander married Darius’ daughter to cement relations beween his Macedonians and the conquered Persians. This was her name according to Q. Curtius IV.v.1.
770 St. Winifred (a Welsh martyr) has her feast day on November 3.
797 For the idiom in leges conficio cf. Plautus, Rudens 643.
821 Cf. Vergil, Eclogue vii.55, omnia nunc rident.
II.v Mirabella comes into the marketplace, and Archiater makes his entry from the hospital.
II.vi Magneticus’ first words suggest he has appeared in the marketplace while Archiater was delivering his final speech. Perhaps in “dumb show” he is represented as hiding himself until Archiater exits.
880 Cf. Plautus, Casina 531, Hoc erat ecastor quod me vir tanto opere orabat meus.
881 For perplexo nomine cf. Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 437.
882 For operam dabo sedulo cf. Plautus, Menaechmi 1009 and Terence, Eunuchus 363.
883 For the idiom servio commodis cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 50, Hecyra 51 and 495.
886 Bartholomew Fair, which was traditionally held at West Smithfield on St. Bartholomew’s Day, supplied a title for a play by Ben Jonson.
899 Cf. Terence, Andria 208, quae si non astu providentur, me aut erum pessum dabunt.
914 For the idiom sartum tectum cf. Plautus, Trinummus 317.
916 Cf. Seneca, Phaedra 721, scelere velandum est scelus.
920 Cf. Terence, Andria 845, omni’ res est iam in vado (the idiom in vado is also found at Plautus, Aulularia 803 and Rudens 170).
923 Conchatim is a neologism: probably they cling to each other like limpets.
935 The word pica is also a neologism, and its meaning can only be deduced from the context.
953 Cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 481, fac sis promissi memor.
967 Plautus uses abalienor at Asinaria 765, Curculio 174, Mercator 457, Miles Gloriosus 1321, Pseudolus 95, Trinummus 513 and 557.
983 See the note on 596.
989 Cf. Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 873, lepide hoc succedit sub manus negotium, and ib. 1143, negotium omne iam succedit sub manus.
991 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 761f., non possum pati / quin tibi caput demulceam.
993 For cesso adire in such a question, cf. Terence, Phormio 285.
995 Cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 321, ei, numnam ego obolui?
999 Subagitator is a neologism, perhaps meaning something like “subversive troublemaker.”
1000 Cf. Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 268, ibo odorans quasi canis venaticus.
1016 For Venerie nepotule cf. Plautus, MIles Gloriosus 1413 and 1421 (which show mss. Veneree is wrong).
1019 Cf. Aeneid IV.24ff.:

1020 Cf. Plautus, Trinummus 846, quas ego neque oculis nec pedibus umquam usurpavi meis.
1024 For curasti probe cf. Terence, Andria 847.
1026 For palam facias cf. Plautus, Curculio 34, Mercator 179, and Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 721.
1027 Cf. mei loci et ordinis at Terence, Eunuchus 234.
1030 See the note on 106.
1032 The image of the snake in the grass goes back to Vergil, Eclogue iii.93, o pueri (fugite hinc!), latet anguis in herba.
1035 For ibi est animus cf. Plautus, Cistellaria 211.
1041 Three fine Roman wines: Caecuban (mentioned by Horace, Satires II.viii.15, Martial II.xl.5, and Pliny, Natural History XXIII.xxxv), Falernian, and wine of the consulship of Bibulus, evidently an especially good vintage (Horace, Odes III.xxviii.8, from which the phrase amphoram Bibuli consuli are taken).
1049 There may be a pun intended on oblinitus (“you will be cheated well”).
III.i The setting is again the marketplace. One wonders what the words Exi foras are meant to signify, since it seems equally implausible that Perilupus would be in his father’s house (he is supposed to be dead), the hospital (he in no need of medical attention), or the brothel (he is not that kind of boy).
1072 Themistocles preferred to learn the art of forgetting rather than that of remembering. Cf. Cicero, De Oratore II.ccxciv, Ita apud Graecos fertur incredibili quadam magnitudine consili atque ingeni Atheniensis ille fuisse Themistocles; ad quem quidam doctus homo atque in primis eruditus accessisse dicitur eique artem memoriae, quae tum primum proferebatur, pollicitus esse se traditurum; cum ille quaesisset quidnam illa ars efficere posset, dixisse illum doctorem, ut omnia meminisset; et ei Themistoclem respondisse gratius sibi illum esse facturum, si se oblivisci quae vellet quam si meminisse docuisset.
1075 Cf. Plautus, Poenulus 787, Nunc pol ego perii certo, haud arbitrario.
1079 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 367, ut illius animum cupidum inopia incenderet.
1081 For the idiom solvo fidem cf. Terence, Andria 643.
1086 Mother Earth.
1088 Cf. Ovid, Amores III.vii.15, truncus iners iacui, species et inutile pondus.
1092 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 806f., vel me haec deambulatio, quam non laboriosa, ad languorem dedit.
1101 In Classical Latin, a conspicillum was “a place for spying out, a look-out post” (Oxford Latin Dictionary), which seems quite out of place here. I am only guessing that the word designates spectacles, since Molossus’ weak eyesight is not otherwise mentioned in the text. In the Renaissance, spectacles had been invented, but there was no agreed-upon Latin word for them: among works included in the Philological Museum they are variously called perspecillia (William Camden), spectacula (George Ruggle) and specularia (Abraham Cowley).
Cf. also Plautus, Menaechmi 1120, Di me servatum volunt, Aulularia 677, di me salvom et servatum volunt, etc.
1102 The unexplained appearance of this rope is a mystery. Possibly the text we have is shorter than what Johnson originally wrote (as it is, Valetudinariam is rather more long than an average Cambridge comedy, and some bits may have been cut in rehearsal). Maybe as originally conceived Perilupus appeared in the preceding scene equipped with a rope to hang himself, scarcely implausible in view of the death-wish he expresses in the scene we have.
1103 Evidently the fox is supposed to “sleep with one eye open.”
1108 The verb excolubro is a neologism, and one can only guess at its meaning from the context.
1109 For portitor cf. Plautus, Asinaria 159, 241, Menaechmi 117, Stichus 366, Trinummus 794, 810, 1107, and Terence, Phormio 150. Custos umbrarum comes from Statius, Thebais XI.445 and XII.151.
1111 Rhadamanthus and Aeacus were the judges of the dead in the Underworld. For fluxae fidei cf. Plautus, Captivi 439.
1113 For recta via cf. Plautus, Casina 881, Poenulus 692, Pseudolus 1051, Terence, Andria 600, Heauton Timorumenos 706, and Phormio 310.
1114 He means he’ll sneak out of the Underworld by the back door (and is not referring to some feature of the stage set).
III.iv Archiater and Cordelia come out of the hospital in time to witness the final events of the preceding scene.
1122 The Greek god of healing.
1123 Cf. Plautus, Captivi 389, salutem dicito matri et patri.
1148 Cf. Terence, Andria 701, id faciam, in proclivi quod est, per me stetisse ut credat.
1155 For tu diiudica cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 986.
1158 Cf. Terence, Eunuchus 682f., ille erat / honesta facie et liberali.
1159 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 382, id quom studuisti isti formae ut mores consimiles forent.
1165 Apollo was both a medical and an oracular god.
1178 Cf. Terence, Eunuchus 817, Pergin, scelesta, mecum perplexe loqui?
1192 For Quid stupes? cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 404.
III.v Urinulus and Minulus enter the marketplace in time to witness Archiater and Cordelia departing.
1212 Cf. Plautus, Trinummus 1103, curre in Piraeum, atque unum curriculum face.
1220 Cf., perhaps, Plautus, Cistellaria 239, Dignus hercle es infortunio.
1229 The Greeks regarded Boeotians as uncouth and boorish.
1257 Cf. ludificemur hominem at Plautus, Stichus 578, ludificemur hominem.
1269 See the note on 739.
1278 Cf. Terence, Eunuchus 1018, itan’ lepidum tibi visumst, scelus, nos inridere?
1279 For mendico malum cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 1032.
1281 Cf. oro, obsecro at Plautus, Amphitruo 923 and Rudens 882.
1288 For par pari cf. Plautus, Asinaria 172, Mercator 629, Persa 223, Pseudolus 692, Truculentus 939, Terence Eunuchus 445, and Phormio 212.
1291 Cf. Terence, Phormio 229f., ego in insidiis hic ero/ succenturiatu’.
1294 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 122f.:

1299 The allusion is to the incident at Plautus, Amphitruo 360ff.
1303 The verb excarnifico is found at Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 813.
1310 The daughters of Danaus (the Belides) had murdered their husbands on their wedding night, and so were condemned to carry water forever in leaky jars.
1352 Cf. Vah, tardus es at Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 776.
1358 For the idiom contollo gradum cf. Plautus, Aulularia 813 and Bacchides 535.
III.vii The setting is Nonaria’s brothel. For some academic plays at least one of the “houses” visible to the audience had a curtained door that could be opened to facilitate the playing of interiors scene. It might seem that this transaction could have been played as such a scene (with Magneticus and Pythiolus coming outside after Ipswichus runs away). But Winifreda’s remark about being outdoors at 2167 does not encourage the idea that this “house” was able to accomodate interior scenes.
1362 Cf. scortum quaerit at Plautus, Pseudolus 1125.
1366 Cf. Persius, Satire i.47, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est.
1376 For Duc me ad eum, obsecro cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 432.
1381 Cf. Plautus, Persa 195, Ego laudabis faxo.
1389 Cf. Terence, Hecyra 808, Parmeno, opportune te offers.
1413 Cf. Terence, Andria 782, iocularium in malum insciens paene incidi.
1422 Cf. Catullus v.7ff.:

1424 Cf. Terence, Andria 218, nam inceptiost amentium, haud amantium.
1431 For delicias facis cf. Plautus, Casina 528, Menaechmi 381, Poenulus 280 and 296. Cf. also Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 1024f., quom ego voluptati tibi / fuerim.
1453 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 903, qui te amat plus quam hosce oculos.
1458 For colore mustilino cf. Terence, Eunuchus 1455.
1460 Cf. quid caput quassas? at Plautus, Trinummus 1169.
1470 For Nondum audisti quod est gravissimum cf. Terence, Adelphoe 466f.
1476 Cf. Plautus, Mercator 655, pro certo si habes.
1477 Cf. Terence, Eunuchus 718, Parmenoni’ tam scio esse hanc tech<i>nam quam me vivere.
1481 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 240, dum moliuntur, dum conantur, annus est.
1495 Cf. Plautus, Mercator 681, disperii, perii misera, vae miserae mihi, and Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 404, disperii, perii misera!
1508 Again, Apollo is mentioned because he is the god of soothsaying.
1521 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 854 (mss. reading), hilarem hunc sumamus diem.
III.viii The setting reverts to the marketplace for the remainder of Act III.
1524 cf. Plautus, Bacchides 640, Hunc hominem decet auro expendi, huic decet statuam statui ex auro. Cf. also Plautus, Mercator 225f., Miris modis di ludos faciunt hominibus / mirisque exemplis somnia in somnis danunt, and Truculentus 26f., quot amans exemplis ludificetur, quot modis / pereat quotque exoretur exorabulis.
1532 Cf. Terence, Eunuchus 769, fac animo haec praesenti dicas.
1535 For dii, vestram fidem! cf. Plautus, Trinummus 591 and 1070.
1550 The Pactolus was a gold-bearing river in Asia Minor.
1566 Cf. lacrumas mitte at Terence, Adelphoe 335.
1573 For ineptis cf. Terence, Adelphoe 934 and Phormio 420.
1582 For the idiom parvi pendeo cf. Plautus, Bacchides 558, Rudens 650, Trinummus 102, Andria 526, Heauton Timorumenos 715, and Hecyra 513.
1593 The old ablative form quivis is attested at Terence, Adelphoe 254, a statement deliberately inverted here, Abs quivis homine, quom est opus, beneficium accipere gaudeas.
1594 The verb peracescit is found at Plautus, Bacchides 1099.
1595 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 956, quid ego tantum sceleris admisi miser?
1596 Cf. Terence, Phormio 376, te indignas seque dignas contumelias.
1599 For Qua insistam via? cf. Phormio 192.
1603 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 319, ruerem agerem raperem tunderem et prosternerem, and Plautus, Persa 294, si prehendero, defigam in terram colaphis
1605 For pereo funditus cf. Terence, Andria 244.
1621 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 213, ego vapulando, ill’ verberando, usque ambo defessi sumus.
1622 Cf. Terence, Andria 680, me missum face.
1630 For Etiam derides? cf. Plautus, Menaechmi 499.
1633 For verberea statua cf. Plautus, Captivi 951 and Pseudolus 911.
1649 Pelias, king of Iolcus, sent Jason and the Argonauts to fetch the Golden Fleece. By way of revenge, Medea persuaded his daughters to kill him under the impression they were restoring his youth. Johnson may have used this mythological image under the influence of Plautus, Pseudolus 869ff.:

Here, however Perilupus is considering none of these sinister implications, but merely saying that Ucalegon will be rejuvenated.
IV.i The setting is in front of the hospital.
1681 Cf. operam ludos facit at Plautus, Rudens 900.
1683 Cf. Terence, Andria 332, nuptias effugere ego istas malo quam tu adipiscier.
1687 For Quam inique comparatum est cf. Terence, Phormio 41.
1710 Cf. Plautus, Asinaria 156, fixus hic apud nos est animus tuos clavo Cupidinis.
1722 Cf. Terence, Andria 204, bona verba, quaeso!
1732 For inclementer with forms of dico cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 742, Pseudolus 27, Rudens, 114, 724, Truculentus 273, and 603.
1739 For sudum est cf. Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 2 and Rudens 123.
IV.3 The setting shifts to Ucalegon’s house.
1755 For teneone te? cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 407.
1756 See the note on 1622.
1757 For intra limen cf. Plautus, Cistellaria 650, Menaechmi 416, Miles Gloriosus 596, and Mostellaria 1064.
1759 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 547f.:

1773 The verb philosophari is used at Plautus, Mercator 147.
1783 For sanum sinciput cf. Plautus, Menaechmi 506 and 633.
1810 For ipsa Salus cf. Terence, Adelphoe 761.
IV.iv Ucalegon comes out of the house, being helped by Bubonius on his way to the hospital
1823 Somebody appears to have extracted a proverb from a statement by Pliny the Elder (Natural History X.clxxvii.5), quae ante iustum tempus concepere, diutius caecos habent catulos.
1834 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 902, tuos hercle vero et animo et natura pater.
1840 Cf. errat longe at Adelphoe 65.
1845 Cf. scribam dicam at Plautus, Aulularia 759 and Terence, Phormio 127.
1856 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 954f., ut pater / tam in brevi spatio omnem de me eiecerit animum patris?
1858 For phrases like Verum est isthoc verbum introducing a proverb, cf. Plautus, Mercator 771, Truculentus 885, and Terence, Eunuchus 732. The “proverb” here is actually Eunuchus 225f.
1870 For inhumano ingenio cf. Terence, Eunuchus 880.
1883 Ludibrio habeo is a common comic idiom: Plautus, Casina 645, 868, Menaechmi 396, etc.
1887 Cf. mecum sentit at Terence, Andria 324.
1888 For par pari cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 692, Truculentus 939, Terence, Eunuchus 445, and Phormio 212.
1894 In antiquity the dynasty of King Attalus of Pergamum and his successors was noted for its opulent style of life.
1895 For the idiom adiungo animum cf. Therence, Adelphoe 67, Andria 56, and Hecyra 683.
1904 For Quis me nominat? cf. Plautus, Rudens 868.
1933 For the idiom facio reducem cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 398.
1953 Cf., perhaps, Terence, Adelphoe 972, utinam hoc perpetuom fiat gaudium.
1957 For Acherunticus cf. Plautus, Bacchides 198, Mercator 290, and Miles Gloriosus 627.
1962 For the idiom animum applico cf. Terence, Andria 995a.
1965 Cf. Terence, Phormio 158, quod mihi principiumst mali.
1974 Cf. Livy XXVII.l.6, suppliciis uotisque fatigare deos, and Statius, Silvae V.i.72,f.:

1972 Cf. Terence, Andria 622, iam aliquid dispiciam.
1982 For (ne) verbum faxis cave cf. Plautus, Asinaria 625 amd Mostellaria 517 (these example show the ne is superfluous, but it is unclear whether the mistake is Johnson’s or was introduced by copyists).
1983 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 414, celem tam insperatum gaudium.
1986 For accersi iussit cf. Plautus, Cistellaria 196 and Terence, Hecyra 466.
IV.vi The setting is the hospital.
1987 This appears to be Johnson’s own variant on Publilius Syrus, Sententiae A22, Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur.
1989 Cf. Plautus, Cistellaria 203, hanc ego de me coniecturam domi facio, ni foris quaeram.
1993 Cf. Plautus, Menaechmi 829-30, ut oculi scintillant vide.
1995 For Potin’ ut taceas cf. Plautus, Persa 175, Poenulus 916, Pseudolus 940 and 942.
1997 For anhela febris cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I.x.5.
2001 For nodosa podagra cf. ib. I.iii.23.
2007 Cf. Aeneid IV.12, degeneres animos timor arguit
2025 Cf. Ps.-Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 10, quid nectis moras? (also Statius, Thebais III.495, IV.677, VII.402, and Martial, Spectacula xxix.2.
2029 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 432, mentem vobis meliorem dari.
2034 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 190, propter eam haec turba atque abitio evenit.
IV.vii The setting is Nonaria’s brothel.
2047 Cf. Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 316, Non ego tuam empsim vitam vitiosa nuce.
2049 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 1019, id quod consimilest moribus.
2057 The noun subditivus (subditiva is surely the right reading here, depite the mss.) is found at Plautus, Amphitruo 497, 828, Bacchides 13, and Pseudolus 752. Cf. also Terence, Andria 75, lana ac tela victum quaeritans.
2058 For abi rus cf. Plautus, Casina 103, Mostellaria 8, 66, 928, and Terence, Hecyra 610.
2062 Cf. sumptum suggeris at Terence, Adelphoe 62. Cf. also Phormio 55, praesertim ut nunc sunt mores.
2066 Cf. dicto oboediens at Plautus, Bacchides 439 and Persae 378.
2068 This line = Plautus, Cistellaria 46.
2073 Cf. Terence, Hecyra 65, quin spolies mutiles laceres quemque nacta sis.
2076 Appoti is found at Plautus, Curculio 354.
2077 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timoruenos 536f., Viden’ ego te modo manum in sinum huic meretrici / inserere?
2083 Evidently the sound-effect slip (or, if one accepts B’s readings, flip) represents Pythiolus slapping Ipswichus.
2087 For derides me? cf. Plautus, Curculio 18 and 392.
2089 For hoc faciam tamen cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 1012.
2100 Cicero’s contemporary, the rakehell Clodius, was a notorious adulterer. This is the equivalent of “the pot calling the kettle black.”
2107 Johnson is obviously playing with Terence’s famous line at Heauton Timorumenos 77, homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto.
2120 Cf. ib. 673, crucior bolum tantum mi ereptum tam desubito e faucibus.
2131 Winifreda appears to be telling Pythiolus that his gloves are as fragrant as the nest of the vulture that fed on Prometheus’ liver.
2149 Penthesilea was the Amazon queen who participated in the Trojan War.
2160 For ut desiderem? cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 662.
2163 Tyrian purple dye was famous in antiquity, and mentioned by several Roman poets. Besides Ovid, Fasti II.107, tyrio bis tinctam murice pallam, cf. Horace, Epode xii.262, Aeneid IV.262, Tibullus II.iv.28, Ovid, Ars Amatoria III.170, Metamorphoses XI.166, Remedia Amoris 708, and Seneca, Phaedra 388.
2170 For duc me amabo cf. Plautus, Mostellaria 324.
IV.9 The setting is the hospital.
2172 For umbrosa arbore cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto IV.v.41.
2194 Orpheus.
2201ff. Ms. B preserves the music for this song:

V.i The setting is the marketplace.
2215 For sero poenitet cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses II.612.
2221 For sursum deorsum cf. Terence, Eunuchus 278.
2223 Theotimus begins comparing the storm in which he was caught to that which destroys the Trojan fleet in Book I of the Aeneid. Juno promises the fair nymph Deiopeia to Aeolus, the father of winds, at I.65ff.
2224 For forma scitula cf. Plautus, Rudens 894.
2225 A summary of Aeneid I.82ff. (data porta is from I.83).
2226 For antiquum chaos cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses II.299 and Lucan, Bellum Civile I.74.
2240 For the idiom suo animo obsequi cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 995, Bacchides 416, Poenulus 176, and Terence, Afer 33.
2242 A parody of Aeneid I.118f.:

2247 Cf. Plautus, Asinaria 509, matris imperium minuere.
V.ii The setting is Nonaria’s brothel (where Magneticus is a boarder).
2249 See the note on 1755.
2252 The “dog” and the “vulture” were two bad throws at dice. Cf. Plautus, Curculio 357, iacit volturios quattuor.
2255 In Classical Latin, the Greek loan-word prothymia meant a feeling of good will. This does not fit the context here, so I assume it is used to designate the outward expression of such a feeling, i. e., greetings.
2256 This Greek phrase does not appear to be a quotation.
2257 Cf. Plautus, Mercator 416, pinsetur flagro.
2261 The phrase soracina naenia comes from Plautus, Bacchides 889. According to the Oxford Latin Dictionary, its meaning is obscure and no definition is offered. My translation has therefore been guided by Lewis and Short.
2263 Cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 319, Mirum ni hic me quasi murenam exossare cogitat, and Pseudolus 382, exossabo ego illum simulter itidem ut murenam coquos.
2266 A “domestic salamander” because both the cook and the salamander spend their lives in fire.
2268 Stepmothers are notoriously unkind to their stepchildren.
2276 The allusion is of course to the story of Atreus feeding Thyestes his children, as memorably dramatized by Seneca in the Thyestes.
2284 For gerrae germanae cf. Plautus, Poenulus 137.
2297 For commentum placet cf. Terence, Andria 225.
2298 Cf. Plautus, Mostellaria 906, Ecquid placeant me rogas? immo hercle vero perplacent.
2300 For Potin’ ut aliud cures? cf. Plautus, Mercator 495.
2303 For ad hoc exemplum cf. Plautus, Mercator 296, Persa 335, Pseudolus 135, Rudens 488, 603, and Trinummus 922.
2304 For lepide ludificare cf. Plautus, Bacchides 642, Casina 558, 560, Miles Gloriosus 906, 927, and 1161.
2308 The choragus (the man who undertook to subsidize the performance and supply its necessities) is occasionally mentioned in “metadramatic” references in Roman drama (Plautus, Captivi 61, Curculio 462, Persa 159, and Trinummus 858), but what this word might mean in the context of an English academic comedy is far from clear. For angiportu proximo cf. Pseudolus 961 and Terence, Phormio 891.
2309 Cf. Trinummus 809, iam properatost opus.
2310 For Potin’ ut abeas? cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 393 (also Casina 731 and Persa 297).
V.iii Pythiolus and Ipswichus come out of the brothel, where they have been sleeping.
2312 The allusion is of course to the myth dramatized by Plautus in the Amphityo.
2323 For certo certius cf. Plautus, Captivi 644.
2343 Epimenides of Crete was a prophet who is supposed to have slept for fifty-seven years.
2344 Endymion, a beautiful young man loved by the Moon, is supposed to have fallen into a perpetual sleep on Mt. Latmos.
2349 Time is called edax rerum at Ovid, Metamorphoses XV.234.
2350 Cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I.i.71, roditur ut scabra positum rubigine ferrum.
2373 Fama is called mendax or mendacia at the Vergilian Aetna 369 and 571, Ovid, Fasti IV.311, Propertius IV.ii.19, and Statius, Silvae I.ii.27.
2376 Nunc dierum is a phrase occasionally found in Latin written by Englishmen, meaning “nowadays.”
V.iv Ucalegon, Archiater and Cordelia come out of the hospital, now that Ucalegon’s eyesight has been healed.
2394 See the note on 2312.
2414 For utinam sic efferamur! cf. Plautus, Asinaria 615.
V.v Molossus and a number of of other cured sufferers come out of the hospital.
2418 Cf. conficiet pensum at Plautus, Mercator 416. There is something very Aristophanic about this scene. Urinulus’ speech reminds one of Cario’s at Plutus 802ff. (itself taken from Sophocles’ lost Inachus), and Molossus dancing with the cripples is equally reminiscent of the conclusion of The Wasps.
2426 Cf. Horace, Odes I.xxxvii.1f., nunc pede libero / pulsanda tellus.
2432 For the idiom antiquum obtinet cf. Terence, Andria 817.
2435 For in malam rem (with abite to be understood) cf. Plautus, Persa 288, Plenulus 295, 873, and Terence, Andria 317.
2457 As he poured himself into Danae’s lap, as mentioned at Terence, Eunuchus 585.
2459 Cf. Terence, Andria 514f., missast ancilla ilico / obstetricem accersitum.
2461 Andremo was presumably a famous racehorse of the time (cf. the allusion to such horses at George Ruggle’s Ignoramus 51ff.
2472 For quid stas? (usually in an injunction to hasten), cf. Plautus, Curculio 251, Epidicus 583, Miles Gloriosus 1387, Persa 600, Pseudolus 330, Terence, Andria 979, Heauton Timorumenos 250, 831, and Eunuchus 459.
2478 Cf. Plautus, Mercator 130, at etiam cesso foribus facere hisce assulas? (which strongly recommends the restoration of foribus here).
2481 This odd-seeming statement becomes intelligible in the light of Plautus, Aulularia 422, ita fustibus sum mollior magis quam ullus cinaedus.
V.vii The remainder of the play is set at Ucalegon’s house.
2514 Cf. nequam servus at Plautus, Casina 257, 741, Poenulus 1030, Pseudolus 1204, and Rudens 1258.
2515 The verb expiscor is found at Terence, Phormio 382. For huic rei caput cf. Terence, Adelphoe 568 and Andria 458.
2516 Cf. Terence, Hecyra 721, et te oro porro in hac re adiutor sis mihi.
2518 Cf. Plautus, Rudens 660, Proripite hominem pedibus huc itidem quasi occisam suem.
2541 Cf. Terence, Andria 379, ibi culpam in te transferet.
2543 Cf. Plautus, Asinaria 861, illum antehac hominem semper sum frugi ratus.
2549 For pereo funditus cf. Terence, Andria 244.
2554 Cf. Plautus, Menaechmi 826, Quaeso, quid mihi tecum est?
2555 Cf. quo te avortisti? at Plautus, Amphitruo 899 and Truculentus 358.
2556 For provolvam te in luto cf. Terence, Andria 777.
2558 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 513, conveniam atque ut res gestast narrabo ordine.
2574 For in culpa cf. Terence, Hecyra 299 and 700.
2584 For in gratiam with forms of redeo cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 940, 942, 1141, Stichus 409, and Terence, Phormio 1029.
2586 For faciam lubens cf. ib. 565.
2587 For condono tibi cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 536, Bacchides 1143, Persa 817, and Rudens 1368. Cf. also Plautus, Epidicus 522f.:

And also Mostellaria 1146f.:

2592 Sine te exorem is rather common in Roman comedy: Plautus, Bacchides 1176, 1199, Mostellaria 1180, Poenulus 375 etc.
2593 This line = Mostellaria 1182 (which has magis ad me).
2597 It is interesting to observe that Johnson attributes to Puritans the alleged crime for which Socrates was put to death.
2611 For quid trepidas? cf. Terence, Adelphoe 323 and Eunuchus 978.
2619 Cf. Plautus, Poenulus 366f.:

2627 Cf. Plautus, Curculio 196, Pergin’ etiam, verbero?
2669 Cf. Seneca, Oedipus 922f.: et gelidus volat / sudor per artus, and also Ovid, Fasti III.36, corque timore micat.
2670 Johnson was conceivably thinking of Seneca, Troades 447, vera ex Achille spolia simulato tulit.
2673 Tam perit quam extrema faba was a proverb according to Festus p. 363 M.
2681 For specimen specitur cf. Plautus, Bacchides 399 and Casina 516.
2683 For ereptam faucibus cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 673.
2684 Cf. Plautus, Stichus 279, atque abundat pectus laetitia meum.
2685 For referre praemium cf. Terence, Hecyra 584.
2699 Cf. perbenigne at Terence, Adelphoe 702.
2712 For glaciale frigus cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses IX.582. For obsessos artus cf. ib. V.632.
2726 Cf. Plautus, Pseudolus 481, fac sis promissi memor.
2731 Cf. Plautus, Cistellaria 512, At ita me di deaque, superi atque inferi et medioxumi.
2732 Os sublino is a common comic phrase for swindling someone: Plautus, Captivi 783, Epidicus 429, 491, Mercator 485, 604, 631, Miles Gloriosus 110, 153, 467, Pseudolus 719, and Trinummus 558.
2745 The Brontes and Steropes are the Cyclopean smiths who forge Jupiter’s lightning bolts (Aeneid VIII.425, Ovid, Fasti IV.288 etc.). They were not Titans, so A’s reading in the next line must be wrong.
2747 For probe with forms of emungo cf. Plautus, Bacchides 01 and Mostellaria 1108f.
2751f. He calls out the names of the four horses that pulled the chariot of the sun, as given by Ovid, Metamorphoses II.153f.
2753 Compesce is a verb not infrequently used in Senecan tragedy when an over-emotional character is being urged to exert self-restraint. Cf., most appositely, Phaedra 165, compesce amoris impii flammas, precor.
2756 Cf. Terence, Adelphoe 409f.:

2764 For bono animo es cf. Plautus, Amphitrio 671, 1131, Asinaria 638, Aulularia 787, Cistellaria 73, etc.
2787 Cf. Terence, Andria 45, quin tu uno verbo dic.
2794 Cf. Terence, Hecyra 852, egno qui ab Orco mortuom me reducem in lucem feceris.
2812 The fabulously ancient king of Pylos in the Iliad.
2816 Cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 964, an id ioco dixisti? eqidem serio ac vero ratus.
2823 I assume The Man Who Ties the Knot (words which would otherwise be unintelligible) is the name of the popular tune to which the following “panegyric ode” is to be sung.
2825 In malam crucem is a frequent comic imprecation (Plautus, Bacchides 902, Casina 977, Curculio 611, 692, etc.).
2843 Eamus intro is also common in comedy (Plautus, Captivi 1027, Epidicus 157, Menaechmi 237, etc.).
2847 Cf. Plautus, Aulularia 49, testudineum istum tibi ego grandibo gradum.
2862 Cf. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos 107, dum quod te dignumst facies.
2872 Cf. Terence, Hauton Timorumenos 308, prae gaudio, ita me di ament, ubi sim nescio.
2873 For nuptias with forms of conficio cf. Terence, Andria 674 and Phormio 258.
Epilogus It is noteworthy that the Epilogue is not spoken by the author (who played Magneticus, according to the actor list preserved by C).